Areas of life where the equality laws can help

Employment

All employers have to consider you on an individual basis for your suitability to do a job. The only exceptions to this are jobs in the armed forces, which are not covered by the equality laws.

All areas of employment are covered: job advertisements, application forms, interviews, job offers, terms of employment, training or promotion opportunities, dismissal or redundancy.

Education

Schools, colleges, universities and providers of adult education should make sure that you are treated fairly.

Access to goods, facilities and services, including insurance

People or organisations that provide any kind of goods, facilities or services (including free services) have to make sure that they do not treat you unfairly because of your epilepsy. Service providers must not refuse to provide you with a service, or provide the service to a worse standard, for a reason related to your epilepsy.

Service providers should make reasonable adjustments, and think ahead about the needs of people with epilepsy or other disabled people who may use their services. They should not wait until they are asked to make adjustments by individual service users.

Examples of service providers are shops, cafes, restaurants, banks, places of worship, cinemas and toddler groups.

Transport

Providers of transport services must comply with the equality laws. Transport services include breakdown recovery vehicles, hire or rental vehicles, private hire vehicles, public service vehicles, rail vehicles and taxis.

Reasonable adjustments made by transport providers are ‘anticipatory’. This means that they should think ahead about the needs of all disabled people who may use their services. They should make reasonable adjustments in advance and not wait until they are asked to make adjustments by individual service users.

The reasonable adjustment duty does not apply to aircraft and shipping vessels.

Buying, renting or managing land or property

There are rules for landlords and other people connected with selling, letting or managing land or property. They mustn’t treat you unfairly for a reason relating to your epilepsy.

Health and social care

Hospitals and NHS Trusts must actively look for ways of making sure that disabled people, including people with epilepsy, are treated fairly. They must also take steps to meet your needs. This is the case even if it means giving you more favourable treatment than someone who doesn’t have epilepsy.